Knowledge
by remember-nomore
Summary: Eve listens to Angel and Lilah talk about signing to take over Wolfram and Hart. Eve knows a secret that could shake Angel's world...in the form of an old foe.


Standing in the shadows, Eve watched them talking, a slow smile on her lips as she took in the scene before her.

"Everything is settled." Lilah's voice still sounded strained. She slowly turned to Angel who kept pacing and eyeing the room like he was a tiger in a cage. "In a matter of moments any and all traces of Connor in your friends and anyone else's minds will be wiped clean. The only people will know are, well… the two of us in this room."

Lilah smiled at Angel with an even cockier smugness about her now that her head could pop off easier than a Barbie doll caught between two five-year-olds. "Stop looking so smug, Lilah." Angel's tone was warning and it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he wasn't the least bit happy.

"C'mon now, Ace. You know this is all for the best, and whatever you and the goody crew stand for. Your son's alive and has no memory of you or the shamble of a life you gave him; you now have the third largest branch of Wolfram and Hart under your total control. Not to mention you get to be the big hero to both your… girls."

Angel stopped pacing and glared at Lilah, his arms slowly crossing his chest. "What are you talking about?"

"As you saw, Cordelia's all taken care of. She's got everything medically – and cosmetically – available to her now. While she's being taken care of, you get to take that pretty little trinket and swoop in on your precious Slayer in Sunnydale. See? You get to be the hero for everyone." She leaned in and flicked the collar of his jacket. "Who says heroes can't wear black?"

"Don't," Angel growled, grabbing Lilah's arm roughly and twisting it away from him. "…touch me." He clenched his jaw and glared at her, torment and anger filled his eyes and the thought of taking it out on her tempted him.

Angel shoved her away hard, hearing her fall back into the soft leather of the chair near the phone. "Hit a nerve, huh, Boss." Lilah adjusted the scarf around her neck, her fingers accidentally touching her scar, reminding her of her fate and making a shiver run over her spine. "Alright, back to business. It's too late to turn back; I can see those wheels turning in that pretty over-gelled undead mind of yours. You signed the contract and your house is built. The Los Angeles branch is yours; you're the head cheese, so to speak. You will have a liaison that will be the go-between from the Senior Partners to you."

"Figured that'd be you." Then again, that would be easy, wouldn't it? Angel looked around, still unable to believe how deep into this he'd gotten so quickly.

A smile that could almost - _almost_ - be mistaken for sad crossed her lips. "No, my perpetuity clause might extend past my untimely death but it does not make me the Partners go-between." She smirked, "I'm too good for that."

Angel looked at her, confused, leaning against the edge of the desk. "And yet you're here now…"

Lilah shook her head. "I'm nothing more than a pretty familiar face to put you at ease. They're not just powerful, they're smart too. We all knew that you wouldn't be so eager to listen to anyone you didn't know." Angel stayed silent, both of them knowing that a point was clearly made. "As I was saying," Lilah continued, elegantly crossing her legs and watching Angel closely. "You now hold the keys to the chocolate factory; anything you need is at your disposal and you now have access to just about all things Wolfram and Hart."

"Whatever the Senior Partners want me to have," Angel interjected.

"Well, yes," Lilah commented frankly, giving Angel what anyone else would consider a 'duh' look. "Don't worry; you've already ended world peace. They're not worried about you ending them… just yet. There's too much for you to gain by keeping them…" She furrowed her brow and tipped her head to the side. "…well, alive isn't the correct term. Around is more appropriate."

Angel shook his head and sighed in defeat. "The longer they're around and the more we twist the wheels for them, the safer Connor is."

"Now you're getting the big picture..." Lilah's syrupy cheerfulness made Eve ill to her stomach, her eyes narrowing, and she found herself wondering when the Senior Partners were going to take Lilah back to her new fiery home.

The low buzzing of her cell phone against her hip pulled Eve's eyes away from the couple in the room, her hand reached down and quickly turned it off, pulling it out of her pocket to check her message. _Everything set?_ Eve just smiled and replied back with a simple _'yes'_ before flipping her cell phone off, her mind going back to a conversation she had with Mr. Suvarta when she was given this assignment.  
_"Knowledge is power, Eve. Only give them what they need to know. Never show your full hand, you lose the advantage that way. The longer you keep the higher ground, the better off you'll be…"_

Eve's mind swam with knowledge of things that Angel and his rapidly misguided group would love to get their hands on. But she'd never tell them. She'd never even let her lover in on the secret that she knew would make him burn if he only knew. It was part of his past, and as much as he swore up and down, Eve knew that he'd never really forget Darla. She'd long since been ash but she still had some effect on him.

_Time heals all wounds_…or something. It was one of those human sayings the Partners put into her mind to make her fit in better, so she could relate. Her mind was filled with knowledge and power, far beyond even her comprehension.

Eve smiled to herself, picking up a hard candy at the secretary's desk on the way to the elevators; one pure thought in her mind… _'I wonder what Angel would do if he knew that everything he just sacrificed and signed away wasn't for his son…but Lindsey's…'_


End file.
